GUIDES Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q - I'm trying to create a newly-enrolled student's parent profile. But I get a "Duplicate Record Warning". What do I do?

A - You will get this warning for any student who was with GEAR UP in previous years and thus his/her parents are in GUIDES. Send us the student's Unique ID and we'll give you access to the parents' profile and link them to the student.

Q - If a parent has two children in the cohort, how do I create the Parent ID?

A - Since the Parent ID is created using the student's Unique ID, having two children in the cohort creates a problem. In this case, use the Unique ID of any one child to create the Parent ID. Each parent should have only one profile in GUIDES. You can link as many children to the parent. Likewise, you can link as many parents/guardians to a student.

Q - I know a student's profile exists in GUIDES but when I try to add him to any event or services, I cannot find him in the search.

A - The problem most likely is that you have multiple search filters enabled in your Student Profile Search; even empty ones. When you open the pop-up box to add students to the service record, click on the ‘Clear History’ button, as shown in the screenshot below. This will clear all search filters. Now try again using any one search filter such as Local ID or Unique ID.

Q - Should I also link to an 'Other Contact' if I have linked to a 'GEAR UP Partner' in the Event record?

A - Yes. 'Other Contacts' are individuals who are linked to 'GEAR UP Partner'. If you have linked to a 'GEAR UP Partner', it is likely that you have met or corresponded with a person at that organization. That person may be the tour guide on a college tour or job site visit or the admission counselor or manager who set up the visit.

Q - Do I have to create an Other Contact each time I meet with someone from an outside organization?

A - It is recommended that you create a profile only when the organization has some component that aligns with GEAR UP goals i.e. college readiness or awareness of postsecondary education. Other GU Partners may include businesses that provide an in-kind match to your GU activities/events.

Q - We have an event held over multiple days. Do we create multiple events with each day or one event with multiple dates?

A - Either is fine. We do not count number of events but rather count number of dates for dosage. If everything about the event is the same, we recommend creating a single event and linking multiple dates to the event. You can mark the person as 'No' with zero hours in the Attendance module if the person did not attend on a particular day. That said, if you have more than 7 dates, the event record may get cumbersome and it is fine to create multiple events in such a case.

Q - Are athletic camps during the summer considered summer programs?

A - Yes but only if those camps have a daily session on college readiness aspects. Camps for purely sports-based activities are not summer programs. We recommend including a college readiness component or working with the coaches to do so while planning the camp if you want to include it as a summer program.

Q - Can a college tour during the summer be considered as a summer program?

A - No but it will be counted as a college tour event which also has a ASPR target goal. It will be marked as “No” on the Summer Program or not question. College tours that are part of a summer academic camp on a university campus can be entered as a separate event in addition to the summer camp. That way we can count the academic camp as a summer program but not the college tour part.

Q - I helped students complete the FAFSA individually in a large group workshop. Does it count ‘Financial Aid Counseling’ as well or just ‘workshop’?

A - Since it was a “large group workshop”, it counts as a Student Workshop with Financial Literacy as a sub-group for workshop type even if the advisors helped students complete FAFSA individually. However, if a student came up to the advisor or counselor after the workshop and asked for more assistance, then it would be a Advising/Counseling Service that covers Financial Aid in addition to the Workshop since it was an individualized session.

Q - I provided counseling/advising service for three students (in a small group setting) for 45 min. How do enter hours in GUIDES?

A - Enter 1. It should be rounded off to the nearest 0.5 so any values between 0.5 and 1 should be 1 and so on. If you have to enter 4 or more hours, explain why number of hours per day for the service exceeds 4 hours in the field provided but hours cannot exceed 8 in a day for any type of service.

Q - Can we count ICF visits and their sessions as GEAR UP Events?

A - You can count focus groups and interviews as Events but not surveys.

Q - What Disciplinary Action code do I choose if the student was placed in DAEP?

A - Use 'Partial Suspension (25-26)'.

Q - Why are fewer students listed on the Course Seat time spreadsheet compared to the total enrollment?

A - We need course seat time for advanced courses only. Thus, we only send students who are enrolled in at least one advanced course and for sake of clarity and brevity, we list their advanced courses only.

Q - How do we report absences and course seat time for inactive students?

A - Enter the data only for the period they were active for during the reporting period (quarter). Otherwise enter zero for them.

Q - I noticed we have a duplicate service record that we created accidentally. What do we do?

A - Contact the Data Administrator at IPSI. You cannot delete any record from GUIDES. We may delete or make it inactive.